Be Here Now: Connecting Mind and Body

Bonus began practicing meditation in 1976 and has trained in both Christian and Buddhist contemplative traditions. She completed the professional training program and the teacher developmental intensive program at the Center for Mindfulness at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center and founded the Mindfulness Program at UW Health in l993. The program has been in research collaboration since 1998 with researchers studying the physical and psychological effects of mindfulness meditation, including Dr. Richard Davidson from the UW-Madison departments of psychiatry and psychology. Davidson has worked extensively with Buddhist monks to measure how mindfulness meditation changes the brain.

Mindfulness encourages more fully, effectively and peacefully participating in the world instead of withdrawing from it. It is the practice of waking up to the beauty and presence of the present moment that allows you to participate more fully in your life. Mindfulness training is central to UW Integrative Medicine Services and a key component in training family practice physicians.